An annual traditional event of the Meitei community involving a trek to a hill in a district dominated by the Kuki people has fuelled fresh tension in ethnic conflict-scarred Manipur.
Six Kuki tribal organisations, including the Kuki Students’ Organisation, on Wednesday (April 9, 2025) asked the non-tribal Meitei not to cross the ‘buffer zone’ for the Cheirao Ching Kaba, an annual event to climb the Thangjing Hill as a part of the celebration for Cheiraoba, the Meitei New Year that starts mid-April.
The buffer zone is a narrow strip separating the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley from the low hills, which are primarily inhabited by the Kuki-Zo-Hmar tribes.
“Unless and until a political settlement is reached by the government of India for the Kuki-Zo-Hmar community under the Constitution of India, no such friendly approach to the jurisdiction of Kuki-Zo-Hmar land would be allowed for the Meitei community,” a joint statement by these organisations read.
They said each community must maintain the status quo and respect the buffer zone to avoid escalation of the ethnic conflict, which has been in check since President’s Rule was imposed in Manipur in February.
The organisations said any attempt to cross the buffer zone would be “opposed tooth and nail”. They urged the government to take measures to safeguard the interests of the two communities caught in the conflict that broke out in May 2023, killing more than 250 people and displacing 60,000 others.
Thangjing or Thangting is a north-south hill range that forms part of the western border of Imphal Valley and the Churachandpur district.
The hill, sporting a shrine that Meiteis consider sacred and ancient, made headlines when a large cross was installed there in January 2024. According to the State government, the Thangjing Hill range falls within the Churachandpur-Khoupum protected forests.
Curfew in the Churachandpur district, imposed after violence triggered by the assault on a Hmar community leader on March 16, was relaxed for 11 hours on Thursday (April 10, 2025).
District Magistrate Dharun Kumar S. said the curfew, imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, was relaxed in the Churachandpur town area due to the improvement in the law-and-order situation.
The curfew, however, was not relaxed in an area surrounding two villages — Rengkai and V. Munhoih — where tension erupted on April 8 over the hoisting of community flags in a disputed area. The curfew was also not lifted in the district’s Kangvai, Samulamlan, and Sangaikot subdivisions.
